Photocopy machine



Feb. 2, 1937. w 6 ET 2,069,318

PHOTOCOPY MACHINE Original Filed July 19, 1935 3 Shets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS w'biften PLlqyd and ATTORNEY.

Feb. 2, 193,7. w. P. LLO-YD ET AL, v 2,069,318

PHOTOCOPY MACHINE Original Filed July 19, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS mitten PLloydand Ndxwed H H211 ATTORNEY Feb. 2, 1937. w. P. LLOYD ET AL PHOTOCOPY MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed July 19, 1935 INVENTOR 5 Mitten 7 LLo dgnd Maxwell H. MI I ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 2, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE assignors to The Haloid Company,

Rochester, N. Y., a corporation of New York Original application July 19, 1935, Serial No.

Divided and this application January I 15, 1936, Serial No. 59,260

8 Claims.

This invention relates to a photocopy machine, with more particular reference to the type of apparatus in which drawings, documents, and the like are photographed-on a sheet of sensitized paper that travels through the machine from a roll, and it has for its object to aiford efficient and simple mechanism for clamping the paper securely during the exposure operation and for automatically releasing the'clamping means previously to the paper feeding operation, so as to render more accurate and facilitate the feeding, and to effect economy in the paper consumption by reducing the amount of wastage.

A more particular object of the invention is to afford a structure in which a pressure roll, that holds the paper against a feeding roll, is positioned away from in front of the focal plane during exposure, the paper at such time being held by a clamping means, and the pressure roll being moved up into engagement with the feeding roll and the clamping means withdrawn prior to the paper feeding operation, which takes place after exposure. This avoids a substantial paper waste that occurs in previous types of machines due to the pressure roll or one of the feeding rolls always being located in front of the focal plane, resulting in wasting a certain amount of paper between the feeding rolls.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in the construction and arrangement of parts that will appear from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the novel features being pointed out in the claims following the specification.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a horizontal sectional View of a paper clamping and feeding mechanism incorporating one embodiment of the invention, and showing the pressure roll in its lowered position;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional View through the control box taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical sectional View on line 33 of Fig. l, with the parts in neutral position;

Fig. 4 is a similar vertical sectional View on line 4-4 of Fig. 1, with the parts in neutral position for exposure;

Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical sectional View taken in the same plane as Fig. 3, with the parts in the position assumed during the paper feeding operation, and

Fig. 6 is a transverse vertical sectional view similar to Fig. 4, and showing the parts in the position assumed during the paper feeding operation.

This application is a division of application Serial No. 32,246, filed July 19, 1935, in which certain mechanism was disclosed for controlling the paper feeding operation in accordance with the position of the curtain, and it will be understood that the .operation .of. the structure of the instant application is not necessarily dependent upon the position of the curtain, and the amount of paper 10 fed may or may not be in accord with the position of the curtain, this application having to do with a clamping means that engages and holds the paper during the exposure operation, and which is automatically moved away from such position during the paper feed while the paper engaging roll is engaged with the feeding roll only during the feeding operation and is automatically moved away from the focal plane at other times.

Referring more particularly to the drawings in which like reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the several views, the curtain, which is not shown, is operated by a shaft I, the latter being movable endwise and carrying a stop plate 2 having a series of openings 3 therein, see Fig. 3, adapted to selectively engage a fixed stop 4 on the inner surface of the outer, Wall of the gear box 5, see Fig. 2. The shaft l extends through the walls of the gear box and carries an operating handle 6 at its outer end, While I is a spring surrounding the shaft l and located between the pinion 8, fixed thereon, and the inner Wall of the gear box, and acting normally to force the operating shaft 1 to its outermost position,

as shown in Fig. 1.

To open the curtain, or change the position of the curtain, the handle 6 and shaft l are pushed inwardly against the tension of spring 1, as shown in Fig. 2, and the handle 6 is then turned until the curtain is in the desired position for exposure, and upon releasing the handle, the spring I forces the shaft outwardly, and one of the openings 3 in the stop plate 2 engages the stop 4 and holds the shaft I, and likewise the curtain, in the position to which it has been adjusted. In the mechanism herein disclosed, it is unnecessary to change the position of the curtain after each exposure, or until a different sized opening is desired, and repeated exposures can be made with the curtain in one position, but it will be understood that the feed mechanism hereinafter to be described may be used in conjunction with other types of curtain setting mechanisms, and may be operated entirely independent of the curtain positioning mechanism if preferred, the extent of movement of the curtain positioning mechanism and of the feeding mechanism being determined by the operator in such instances.

In the structure shown, where the position of the curtain automatically determines the amount of paper feed, the pinion 8 on the curtain operating shaft I engages and drives a gear 9, see Fig. 2. On the rear face of the gear 9 is a stop or projection I0, see Fig. 5, adapted to cooperate with a stop I I on a gear I2 that is engaged and driven by a pinion I3, and forms a part of the paper feed mechanism. Pinion I3 is fixed on a shaft I4, see Fig. 5, which extends through the front wall of the gear box 5 and carries an operating handle I5 for effecting movement of the paper feed mechanism, the extent of such movement in the construction shown being determined when the aforementioned stop II on gear I2 engages stop I!) on gear 9, the position of the latter having previously been determined by the extent to which the curtain is opened. The gear I2 transmits movement to the paper feed roll by the mechanism that will now be described.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, gear I2 is fixed on a shaft l6, which also has fixed thereon and spaced from the gear l2 an operating member or cam I'I. Loosely mounted on the shaft I6 is a gear I8 that engages and drives a pinion I9 connected to the paper feed roll. The loosely mounted gear I8 has a projection or stop 20, see Fig. 1, extending from its inner side and engageable with a fixed stop 2| on the gear box to limit the return movement of gear I8 and insure always bringing it back to a definite initial position. Referring to Fig. 3, 22 is a stop or projection extending from the opposite side of gear I8 into the path of a stop or projection 23 carried on the adjacent surface of the cam I'I so that when the operating member or cam I! is turned in an anti-clockwise direction, see Fig. 5, the stop 23 on the cam engages stop 22 on the gear I8 and turns gear I8 correspondingly and likewise the feed roll. The gear 18 is held in normal position, with stop 22 against stop 2|, as shown in Fig. 3, by the arm 5|, loosely mounted on shaft I6, and held by a spring 52, connected at one end to the cam I1, and at its opposite end to a lug 53 on the arm 5|.

The pinion l9, that is operated by gear I8, is fixed on a shaft which is connected, through a friction roller clutch 24, see Fig. 1, with the shaft which carries the paper feed roll 25. By arranging the friction clutch 24 between the pinion I9 and the paper feed roll 25, the latter is operated when the pinion I9 is driven in one direction, and when the paper feed mechanism is returned to initial position after completion of the feeding operation, the feed roll 25 remains idle to prevent winding the paper backwardly.

The paper is fed, after exposure, by turning handle I5, which actuates feed roll 25, as already described, the latter being then engaged by a pressure roll which holds the paper against the feed roll. During the exposure operation, the pressure roll is in a lowered position away from the feed roll and out of the focal plane, the paper being then held by clamping means. Before feeding, the paper is reengaged by the pressure roll and the clamping means released, and the mechanism which will next be described has to do with the movable pressure roll and clamping means, and the manner in which their operation is controlled.

The pressure r'oll, designated generally at 26, see Figs. 1 and 4, is mounted on arms 21 which are pivoted to swing about an axis 28, whereby the pressure roll is movable from its lower position, as shown in Fig. 4, to its upper position as shown in Fig. 6, where it is adjacent to the focal plane and holds the paper against the feed roll, and after feeding is completed, when the parts are returned to initial position, the pressure roll is again swung downwardly to the position shown in Fig. 4. To accomplish this, each of the arms 21 carries a pivoted sleeve 29, see Fig. 4, in which is slidably mounted a rod pivotally connected to an arm 3I that is loosely mounted on a rock shaft 32, while 33 is a collar fixed on said rock shaft and carrying an ear 34 arranged to engage a pin 35 on the arm 3!. Thus, when the rock shaft 32 is turned in a clockwise direction, see Fig. 4, the ear 34 engages pin 35 and swings the arm 3I, likewise moving rod 30 from the position shown in Fig. 4 to the position shown in Fig. 6, swinging the pressure roll upwardly preliminarily to the paper feeding operation.

During exposure, the sensitized paper is held against the focal plane plate or back at the bottom by a clamping means preferably consisting of a clamping plate 35 that is mounted for bodily sliding movement in a horizontal plane toward and from the paper and carries a rubber strip 3! which engages the paper, see Figs. 1 and 4. The clamping plate is held in the position just described by the springs 38, see Fig. 1, and is automatically moved out of clamping position to release the paper, as shown in Fig. 6, immediately after the pressure roll has engaged the paper.

To this end, the clamping plate 35 has connected to it a pair of rearwardly extending bars 39, each of which carries a pin 40, that is engaged by an arm 4I fixed on the rock shaft 32 so that at the limit of the movement of the rock shaft 32, after the pressure roll has engaged with the feed roll, the arms 4! engage the pins 40, as shown in Fig. 6, and move the bars 39 to the right and the clamping means away from the paper so that the latter is then free to be fed. The movement just described of the clamping means, after the pressure roll has engaged the feed roll, is made possible by a spring 22, see Fig, 4, located on the rod 30 between the sleeve 29 and a fixed collar 43, the rod 30 being slidable through the sleeve 29 and its return movement being limited by a nut 44 secured to the end of the rod, as shown in Fig. 6. Thus as rod 30 is moved to the right, when the rock shaft 32 is turned clockwise, as shown in Fig. 4, the initial movement brings the pressure roll upwardly into contact with the feed roll, and the final movement permits compression of the spring 42, see Fig. 6, holding the pressure roll under yieldable tension against the feed roll and permitting the clamping means to be withdrawn from engagement with the paper, as already described.

The rock shaft 32 is controlled by the operating member or cam I'I previously described, and to this end, the cam I1 is cut away at 45, see Fig. 3, to receive a roller or projection 4'5 on the arm 4! which is fixedly mounted on the rock shaft 32. These parts are so related that when the operating handle I5 is turned in a clockwise direction and the operating member or cam i1 is at the same time turned in an anti-clockwise direction, the initial part of such movement during the first 45 of turning causes movement of the rock shaft 32 from the neutral position shown in Fig. 3 to the position shown in Fig. 5. During this movement of the cam, the pressure roll is moved upwardly into engagement with the feed roll to the position shown in Fig. 6, and the clamping means is withdrawn from engagement with the paper. The parts are now ready to feed the paper, and upon further turning of the cam 11, the stop 23 on the cam engages stop 22 on gear I8 and turns the feed roll to feed the paper, as already described. This feeding movement of the paper continues until the stop I! on gear i2 engages stop ID on the gear 9, the position of which determines the extent of operation of the feeding mechanism as the parts can move no further. The handle I5 is then turned in a reverse direction to bring the parts previously described back to normal position, and they are then ready for a repetition of the operation already described, or for a paper severing operation, which may be carried out by any suitable mechanism and forms no part of the invention of this application.

When the feed and pressure rolls engage the paper throughout the width of the paper, there is sometimes a tendency for the paper to twist or skew as it goes through the machine, and this objection is overcome in the present structure by engaging the paper only at a central zone between the side edges, leaving it free from contact with the feed and pressure rolls for a substantial distance at its edges so that the feeding pressure takes place only at the central part of the paper strip. This is illustrated in Fig. 1 where feed roll 25 is shown as of the same diameter throughout its length, while the pressure roll 26 has a central portion 55 which engages the paper and presses it against the feed roll, while the end portions of the pressure roll 26 are of reduced diameter, the side portions or edges of the paper beyond the central portion 55 riding freely between the feed roll 25 and the reduced end portions of the pressure roll 26. The pressure roll, when engaged with the feed roll, is turned by a gear 56 fixedly carried by the feed roll and turning therewith through mechanism already described, gear 55 meshing with gear 51 on the pressure roll when the latter is swung upwardly into paper feeding position.

While the invention has been described with reference to certain details, it is not confined to the precise arrangement shown, and this application is intended to cover any modifications or departures coming within the purposes of the improvement or the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. In a photocopy machine, the combination with paper feeding mechanism including a paper feed gear and a pressure roll for the paper, of paper clamping means normally in engagement with the paper, a rock shaft operatively connected to the pressure roll, means carried by the rock shaft engageable with the paper clamping means at the limit of the movement of the rock shaft in one direction, a rotatable member for operating the rock shaft whereby the pressure roll is moved into engagement with the paper during the first part of the movement of said rotatable member and the clamping means is disengaged from the paper at the limit of such movement of the pressure roll after it has engaged the paper,

and connections between the rotatable member and the feed gear whereby the latter is operated during the further movement of the rotatable member in the same direction.

2. In a photocopy machine, the combination with paper feeding mechanism including a pressure roll for the paper, of paper clamping means normally in engagement with the paper, a rock shaft operatively connected to the pressure roll, means carried by the rock shaft engageable with the paper clamping means at the limit of the movement of the rock shaft in one direction, a rotary cam for operating the rock shaft whereby movement of the cam in one direction first moves the pressure roll against the paper and subsequently withdraws the paper clamping means at the limit of the movement of the pressure roll and after the latter has engaged the paper, and operative connections between the cam and paper feeding mechanism whereby the latter is actuated after the pressure roll is engaged with the paper.

3. In a photocopy machine, the combination with a feed roll, a pressure roll movable downwardly away from the feed roll, clamping means normally in engagement with the paper to hold the latter when the pressure roll is disengaged from the feed roll, a rock shaft operatively con nected to the pressure roll, means carried by the rock shaft engageable with the paper clamping means at the limit of the movement of the rock shaft in one direction, a rotatable cam for operating the rock shaft whereby the pressure roll is initially moved upwardly into engagement with the feed roll and thereafter the clamping means is disengaged from the paper before operation of the feed roll.

4. In a photocopy machine, the combination with a feed roll, of a pressure roll movable downwardly away from the feed roll, clamping means normally engaged with the paper to hold the latter when the pressure roll is disengaged from the feed roll, a rock shaft operatively connected to the pressure roll, means carried by the rock shaft engageable with the paper clamping means at the limit of the movement of the rock shaft in one direction, a rotatable member for operating the rock shaft whereby the pressure roll is moved into engagement with the paper before disengaging the clamping means, and the clamping means is engaged with the paper before disengaging the pressure roll.

5. In a photocopy machine, the combination with paper clamping means normally in engagement with the paper, a paper feeding roll, a pressure roll movable into and out of engagement with the feeding roll and normally out of engagement therewith, a rotatable member for operating the paper feeding roll, a rock shaft operatively connected to the pressure roll, means carried by the rock shaft engageable with the paper clamping means at the limit of the movement of the rock shaft in one direction, and means on the rock shaft arranged to be engaged by said rotatable member whereby to move the clamping means away from clamping position after the pressure roll is engaged with the feeding roll and to move the clamping means into engagement with the paper before the pressure roll is disengaged from the feed roll.

6. In a photocopy machine, the combination with a paper feed gear having a stop thereon, a cam having a stop for engagement with the stop on the paper feed gear to move the latter at a predetermined point in the rotation of the cam,

of a pressure roll normally out of engagement with the paper, paper clamping means normally engaged with the paper, a rock shaft actuated by said cam, connections between the rock shaft and the pressure roll, and means carried by the rock shaft acting to engage the paper clamping means at the limit of movement of the rock shaft in one direction whereby the cam during the initial part of its movement swings the pressure roll against the paper and disengages the clamping means preparatory to the operation of the paper feed gear.

'7. In a photocopy machine, the combination with a feed roll, of a cam for effecting operation of the feed roll during a part of its movement in one direction, a pressure roll, a paper clamping means normally in engagement with the paper, a rock shaft operatively connected to the pressure roll, means on the rock shaft engageable with the clamping means at the limit of movement of the rock shaft in one direction, the rock shaft acting to move the pressure roll upwardly into engagement with the paper before disengaging the clamping means and to reengage the clamping means before disengaging the pressure roll and moving it downwardly, and an arm on said rock shaft controlled by said cam so as to actuate the rock shaft in one direction during the initial part of the travel of the cam before operating the feed roll.

8. In a photocopy machine, the combination with a paper feed roll, a pressure r011 movable into and out of engagement with the feed r011, paper clamping means normally in engagement with the paper, a rock shaft operatively connected to the pressure roll, means carried by the rock shaft engageable with the paper clamping means at the limit of the movement of the rock shaft in one direction, and a cam for operating the rock shaft, the cam being operatively associated with the feed roll and acting during the initial part of its movement to operate the rock shaft and thereby move the pressure roll into engagement with the feed roll and thereafter disengage the clamping means from the paper, and the cam acting during the subsequent part of its movement to operate the feed r011.

WHITTEN P. LLOYD. MAXWELL H. HILL. 

